Starting mechanism



Nov. 3, 1931. J. A. M GREW 1,330,614

STARTING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 15, 1928 ginmnto o X4 7m/iw attomwqsPatented Nov. 3, 1931 UNITED STATES JOHN A. MCGREW; F ALBANY, NEW YORKSTARTING MECHANISM Application filed. August 13, 1923. Serial No.299,210.

' This invention relates to starting mechanisms for engines, and moreparticularly to electric starting devices for internal combustionengines.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide, in an enginestarting mechanism, a motor carrying a drive means adapted to engage arotatable part on the engine; and a starting lever having inter o posedbetween it and the motor an irreversible mechanism for moving the motorto cause the driving means to engage said engine part.

One of the features of the invention comprises a gearing arrangement fora starting motor whereby a movement of a starting lever in the generaldirection of the motor shaft causes a lateral or transverse motion ofthis shaft.

Another feature of the invention comprises novel support means for aswinging, starting motor which constitutes also stop mechanism to limitmovement of said motor in one direction. I

A further feature of the invention comprises an engine startingmechanism having a motor movable to engage a pinion thereon with a gearon the engine shaft,together with a switch mechanism mounted directly onthe motor and having an operating part engagean able with a stationaryabutment at the time the pinion and gear become engaged.

Other and further features and objects of the invention will be moreapparent to those skilled in the art. upon a consideration ofthe'accompanying drawings and following specification, wherein isdisclosed a singleexemplary embodiment of the. invention with theunderstanding, however, that such changes may be made therein as fallWithin the scope of the appended claims without departing from thespiritof the invention.

In said drawings: a Figure 1 is an end elevation of the startingmechanism showing its pinion engaged with 4 a fly wheel gear; 7 a

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the pinion disengaged and the motorretracted; and

Figure 3 is a side elevation of themechanism showing in solid lines theposition of certain of the parts when the gear and pinion are engaged,and in dotted lines'their position when disengaged.

The present invention comprises a novel electric starting mechanism'forinternal combustion engines, particularly of the automotive type, and isdisclosed illustratively as cooperating with a large gear 10 on the rearof the periphery of the fly wheel 11 of the J engine. The electric motor12 forming the 36 main part of the starting mechanism may be of anyconventional form andis adapted to be operated from the battery of'thevehicle, or other suitable source of current; It. car'- ries on itsextended shaft 13 the pinion 14 or other drive means adapted to engagewith v the corresponding driven means here shown as gear 10 when the twoarebrought into op:- erative relation as'shown in Fig. 1 by relativemovement between the axes of the engine and the motor. In the form ofdevice shown this movement tends to bring these axes closer together. It'is obvious that if the teeth are cut on the rear face of the fiy wheel,the shafts of the motor and engine maybe at a substantially rlght anglesto each other and movement of the motor to engage the pinion and gearwill before and aft. v p

The invention is disclosed ina specific embodiment illustrating the useof positive 0 drive means in the form of a pinion on the 1 motor shaftand a ring gear ontheengine fly wheel. It will be understood that thispositive drive mechanism may well be replaced by so-called frictiongearing or other forms of gearing. The means used here'for moving themotor as described in thefollowing paragraphs will be appreciated to beof special value where friction gearing is used, since aconsiderableforce can be applied with it to the motor to maintain thefriction discs in such engagement that there will be sub stantially noslippage. In the following claims it is to be'understood thatanyexpression referring to driving means between the motor and the flywheel is not to be construed in any limiting sense and is to includeboth the positive or toothed gearing shown as well as friction gearingand its equivalents. V Y

The motor is provided with the lug 15 ex- 10% bearing pin 20 previouslydescribed.

tending up from the upper surface of the substantially cylindricalcasing, and this lug has its ends fitted between the bearings 16 carriedon the arms 17 and 18 extending upwardly from the base 19 which isadapted to be mounted in any convenient manner either on the frame ofthe engine or on other suitable supports rigid in respect to the engine.A pin 20 passes through the bearings 16 and the lug 15 and permits themotor to be swung. The arms 17 and 18 are preferably cast integrallywith the base 19. The arm 17 comprises a web 21 and a fiange'22at'rightangles to each other. The whole arm is curved as shown in Fig. 1 so thatthe motor can hang-suspended from the pin 20 and the inner face of theweb at'23 has a curvature concentric to the curvature of the motorcasing so that when the motor is in the retracted position as shown inFig. 2 with its pinion disengaged from the gear, the casing fits snuglyagainst this web at '23 which forms a stop therefor.

The arm 18 is curved in a manner identical with that disclosed inconnection with :the

arm 17, and it also acts as a stop. The flange .24 'of the .arm 18isiextended laterally at the top and is provided with the boss 25 havingsecured therein the bearing pin 20' at right angles to the pin 20 anddirected away from the engine.

The motor is .adapted to be swung toward and away from the engine bywhat. may be termed an irreversible mechanism, i. e., one which can bedriven to move the motor, but which the motor cannot drive in attempting'to move away from the fly wheel. This mechanism comprises a worm wheelsegment 26 on the lower surface'of the motor-casing which is adapted tomesh with a worm 27 secured to a shaft 28having a bearing in the block'29 extending upwardly from and seshaft 28 is provided withthe pinion30. It.

will be seen that rotation of theshaft 28 in a counter-clockwisedirection, as viewed in Fig. '3, will cause the motor to be moved towardthe engine to engage thepinion 14 with thegear 10. However, the thrust.caused by the pinion and gear tendingto separate their respective axes,will not rotate the shaft 28, since-the pitch of the worm and the wormtglgar segmentare so adjusted as to prevent 1s. The shaft.28.is adaptedto be rotated by the gear segment '32 meshing with the pinion 30 andcarried by the arm 33 pivoted to the An operating link or lever 34 ispivoted to the arm 33 at 35 and may extend upwardly to a arm 33.

Web 21 and is braced by the gusset web 39 as shown in Fig. 3. The cup 38ispreferably provided with a segmental slot adapted to engageover thecurved abutment 4:0 on the The spring is arranged to expand and maintainthe ,arm 33 in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3, which will alsoretract the motor to the position shown in Fig. v2 and disengage thepinion and gear. The motor will be held tightly against the stops andcannot rattle.

In order to effect a closure ofthe electric circuit connected to themotor, it is preferred to have carried by the motor a suitable switchmechanism in the form of a push button in a casing-42 which; can besecured by the screws 43 to the end plate 4410f the motor remote fromthe drive pinion 1 1. The end face of the switch. housing is providedwith a contact terminal 45 to which a flexible lead from the storagebattery may be directly connected. The other terminal of the switch (notshown) is connected directly to the motor Winding, it beingassumed thatthe other terminal of the motor is grounded through the frame of thevehicle, as is customary. Projecting from the side of the switch casingis theoperating shaft lti having fixedto its end thebutton 17.Surrounding the shaft and abutting the button and the switch housing isthe coil spring 49 normally extending the shaft 16 and disengaging thecontacts in the housing.

, The button 47 isadapted to engage with the stationary abutment 50 onthe arm 51 .formed integral with the base. The device is so adjustedthat the switch is normally.

open, but after the pinionl-i and gear- 10 have come into engagement,movement of the switch shaft 46 has taken placerto a sufficient extentto close the circuit to. the motor and needsovercome only the springs 36and 49,

and does not take any-of the reaction result ing from the thrust betweenthe gear and the pinion, this being all taken by the irreversible wormand worm gear segment. The switch structure is made sufiiciently heavyso that it acts as a stop to limit the movement of. the motor toward theengine. This insures an adequate meshing of the gears, since they mustbe properly engaged before the switch can be closed and any tendency toallow them to become disengaged will immediately open the circuit,preventing operation with improperly meshed gears.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Starting mechanism for engines including in combination, an electricmotor movably mounted, a driving element on said motor adapted to engagea driven element on the engine when the motor is moved, means totransmit movement to said motor, a switch on said motor having anoperator thereon and an abutment in the path of movement of said motoradapted to be engaged by said operator to close said switch when themotor is moved to engage said elements.

2. In a starting mechanism for engines, in combination, an electricmotor mounted for movement toengage and disengage driving mechanism, anormally open switch carried by said motor, and an abutment in the pathof movement of said motor engageable by said switch to close the samewhen said motor is moved.

3. In a starter, in combination, a driven member, a driving member,.anelectric motor for said driving member mounted for swinging movement toengage said members, a switch mounted to move with said motor and anabutment in the path of movement of said motor to engage said switchwhen said members are engaged to close the circuit to said motor.

4. In a starter, in combination, a driven member, a driving member, amotor for said driving member mounted for swinging movement, a wormwheel segment on said motor, a worm engaging said segment, a pinionoperatively associated with said worm and a pivoted gear segmentengaging said pinion to rotate the worm and swing said motor to engagesaid members. I

5. In a starter, in combination, a driven member, a driving member, amotor for said driving member mounted for swinging movement, a wormwheel segment on said motor, a worm engaging said segment, a pinionoperatively associated with said worm, a pivoted gear segment engagingsaid pinion to rotate the worm and swing said motor to engage saidmembers, and an operating member associated with said gear segment.

6. A starting mechanism comprising a motor, a pair of arms pivotallysupporting said motor and shaped to form a stop therefor in onedirection, a worm wheel segment on said motor, a shaft at right anglesto the pivot of said motor, a worm on said shaft engaging said segment,a pinion on said shaft, a gear against said stop.

segment pivoted to one of said arms and engaging said pinion and aspring between sald gear segment and the other arm.

7. A starting mechanism comprising a motor, an arm pivotally supportingsaid motor and forming a stop therefor in one direction, a shaft,cooperating gearing on said shaft and motor, a pivoted member,cooperating gearing on said shaft and member, and means to bias saidmember to hold said motor against said arm and means to move saidmember. I

8. A starting mechanism comprising a motor pivotally mounted, a stop tolimit movement thereof in one direction, means to move said motorincluding an irreversible gearing and a bias for said means to hold saidmotor In testimony whereof I hereunto afiizi my signature.

JOHN A. MoGREW.

